According to the present invention, techniques for digital mapping are provided. In particular, the present invention provides methods, devices, codes, and systems for displaying selected regions of a body of water and associated areas. More particularly, the present invention provides systems, methods, codes, and devices for selectively highlighting one or part of one bottom contour (or other region) in the chart of a body of water using a display coupled to a GPS (i.e., global position system or sensor) or other visual Display Device. Of course, other embodiments may be provided as well.
Vessel navigation through GPS has evolved from its earlier days in locating the vessel upon a body of water and displaying that location information for a vessel operator to an ability to create user programmed routes to guide the vessel. Conventional GPS allows users to manually create a series of turn points and then connect them together to create a contiguous path for the vessel to follow. Unfortunately, disadvantages exist with conventional GPS. As an example, one disadvantage is that it is cumbersome and, depending on the detail provided by the underlying chart, may not be truly accurate. More importantly, a finite amount of time is often required to create the turn points necessary to generate a desired route, making it difficult to accomplish while the vessel or course is underway. These and other limitations are described throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that techniques for improving vessel navigation using GPS are highly desirable.